author
Martin B. (Martin Bronn) Ruud
1885–1941
A Norwegian-born scholar and translator, he helped bring Scandinavian literature, song, and Shakespeare history into clearer view for English-language readers. His work connects literary study with the cultural life of Norwegian America.
1 Audiobook
An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway
by Martin B. (Martin Bronn) Ruud
About the author
Martin B. Ruud was a Norwegian-born literary scholar who became a professor of English at the University of Minnesota. He is best remembered for work that joined close literary study with a strong interest in Scandinavian and Norwegian American culture.
His doctoral work, completed at the University of Chicago in 1915, led to An Essay Toward a History of Shakespeare in Norway, a study of how Shakespeare was translated, criticized, and performed in Norway. He also wrote on medieval and English literary subjects, including Thomas Chaucer.
Ruud was one of the editors and translators of Norwegian Emigrant Songs and Ballads, first published in 1936 by the University of Minnesota Press with Theodore C. Blegen. Archival material from the Norwegian American Historical Association also shows his long involvement with questions of heritage, language, and cultural memory in immigrant communities.